Python hunting season set for South Florida

TALLAHASSEE — State wildlife officials have created a special python hunting season to try to stop the spread of the nonnative snakes throughout the Everglades.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says anyone with a hunting license who pays a $26 permit fee can kill the reptiles from March 8 to April 17 on state-managed lands around the Everglades in South Florida.

The season is open for Burmese and Indian pythons, African rock pythons, green anacondas and Nile monitor lizards.

Thousands of the nonnative Burmese pythons are believed to be in the region, upsetting the natural balance of the ecosystem.

Wildlife officials on Monday trained a group of hunters on how to identify, stalk, capture and remove the reptiles.